Sadly they went from a strong program historically to one of the weakest programs. I say that this with a heavy heart since many people at HSDM were pioneers in our field and deserve the respect that goes with it.
I interviewed when Troulis was still the chair, but can confirm she was booted out a few weeks later. Lots of the faculty recently either got fired/asked to leave/quit. Currently the interim chair is a plastic surgeon (WTF?), while the search starts for a new one. They are essentially owned by plastics and ENT for anything that may be overlapping in scope of practice. Chiefs themselves were uncomfortable in the OR (granted I only saw them in the beginning of year 6 during an externship). They are not comfortable doing slightly complex implant case - all on fours, zygomatics etc. During the interview chiefs basically warned me off from attending. Word is there is also a culture problem. Suffice to say I ranked them last, as I know many of us during that cycle did. BTW there was one year recently they didn't match a spot, but I was told it was a medical school issue more than anything (this was kind of the vibe at the interview).
The time spent on OMFS is intern year, and half of 5 and year 6 is spent on service. They really only start learning how to do third molar extractions in 5th year. Many of who I thought were best applicants from HSDM looked elsewhere. The ones that wanted to stay in the northeast went to other programs.
If you really want to go to HMS, then go for it, but are you really interested in being an oral surgeon? Currently, there are two approved paths into OMFS, and one does not include an MD, so choosing an OMFS program for something that is so peripheral to our training it is not even a requirement doesn't make a lot of sense.
Hopefully they bounce back in the next decade or so... but not in your tenure as a resident.
This is all firsthand knowledge of externing and interviewing there, the more recent updates are from a friend that is currently at HSDM.
